DELE MOMODU: 63 GARLANDS FOR A HERO

Let me confess. Dele Momodu was one of the first columnists that attracted me. I used to love to read his columns in the now rested Fame magazine. I had followed him through Classics where he was the youngest Editor in the land then through to Fame. I once went to their Ikeja office like I always did those days, just to sit and flow with the superstar writers of the day. For me, FAJ and the rest were my own Michael Jackson and then Uncle Dele walked in. I still remember he was in jeans, a nice long sleeved t-shirt and beautiful loafers on his feet. He was still big, with a huge tummy and an expansive laugh. I looked from afar, admiring him and being afraid to go say hello. Since then, I have followed his trajectory. I do not agree with his politics most times, but his prose, I can die for. Kai! Uncle Dele can write, he writes himself into the article. It usually feels like eating afang when I read him. His ideas with paragraphs dovetailing into each other with so much ease that you begin to beg that the article will not finish. He has been everything; from a writer to publisher to failed presidential aspirant and now PDP henchman but what has remained is his talent. His ability to tell a story very vividly, capturing the essence of his subject and holding the reader prisoner. I spoke to him the other day, when I begged him to help me beg one sponsor to pay my money and he still sounded very brilliant on the phone. Humble and sweet is what I will call him Saw his birthday video with Peter Obi in London and marvelled at just how good he looked in it. But wait, was that Yemi Edun in that video? That is my brother for life oooooo. Happy birthday my egbon, I wish you God’s eternal grace and a momentous rest of your life. God bless you.